Millionaire neighbour wins bitter two-year legal battle to force mother to trim her 30m gum tree for safety reasons - but she says it's because he wants to enjoy the city views
- Tabitha Pendlebury has been ordered to prune a 30-metre eucalyptus tree
- Matter found itself in front of the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal
- Former news anchor Bill McDonald said he wanted tree removed for son's safety
- Ms Pendlebury claimed he wanted it cut down because it blocked city views
A former Channel Seven anchor has won a bitter two-year legal battle with his neighbour over a 30-metre eucalyptus tree.
Tabitha Pendlebury was ordered to prune the tree for 'hazard reduction' after the matter found itself in front of the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal in May.
Journalist Bill McDonald said he wanted the gum removed to keep his eight-year-old son James safe from falling branches at their Windsor home in Brisbane's inner-north.
A former Chanel Seven anchor has won a bitter two-year legal battle with his neighbour over a 30-metre eucalyptus tree
Tabitha Pendlebury was ordered to prune the tree for 'hazard reduction' after the matter found itself in front of the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal in May
Ms Pendlebury suggested otherwise, claiming the celebrity figure wanted to cut down the tree because it blocked his city views - something Mr McDonald denied.
She said the QCAT process had been very time consuming and she was forced to take time off work.
'To me the flaw (in the process) is the trees are an unfortunate pawn in process,' Ms Pendlebury told The Courier-Mail.
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'It's been there longer than I've been alive, what right do I have to remove it.'
Ms Pendlebury, who has a six-year-old daughter, said she did not see the tree, believed to be 80 years old, as a safety risk and the arborist said it was 'super healthy'.
Mr McDonald said a seven-metre branch had fallen near his son, who has a cubby house sitting near the base of the tree.
Former news anchor Bill McDonald said he wanted the gum removed to keep his eight-year-old son James safe from falling branches at their Windsor home
Ms Pendlebury said she was approached by Mr McDonald to prune the tree and sought a vegetation protection order
'They are called widow-makers for a reason,' he said.
Ms Pendlebury said the falling branch was caught by another tree and Mr McDonald, who moved into the house in 2016, built his son's cubby after moving in.
Ms Pendlebury said she was approached by Mr McDonald to prune the tree and sought a vegetation protection order.
QCAT found there should be regular annual pruning of the tree following the 'hazard reduction' prune.
QCAT found there should be regular annual pruning of the tree following the 'hazard reduction' prune
